Free the Drive
by MeowthTwo
Summary: Sam tries to clear the snow in front of his house and gets into more trouble than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

Free the Drive- Sam shovelling Snow.

Sam stood in the snowy drive and clutched the shovel, which he had just grabbed up from inside the door. He'd had breakfast, and the sky was at least partly blue so he had a good chance of clearing the drive.

"I'll get you out, Bee," he said through the garage door to his Autobot friend, "Just let me dig a path free from the door to the road first so Mom can go shopping and Dad can get out early if he wants."

There was a burst of music from inside the garage - he could not tell exactly what it said but he knew Bumblebee had heard him, because

he was pretty sure his Dad's Porsche couldn't do that.

He knocked the snow gently off his Mom's roses and started digging down to the path. At least there was not a layer of ice beneath the snow so once he got to the flagstones and gravel it would not be slippery. There might be ice on the road, but he could see their own mailbox and entrance over the lawn, and that gave him a focus.

A sweet scent drifted out from the kitchen as he dug away at the snow, shifting it to the sides of the path in a neat border. His Mom was baking cookies! Double chocolate chip cookies, he could tell from the smell, and there might be cookie dough left over! Only a few more strides to the road, and he would reward himself by going in for a cookie, to test the flavour, and offering to scrape clean his mother's cream mixing-bowl! He licked his lips, and a snowflake fell onto his nose and toppled off onto his tongue.

It was starting to snow again. Not worrying to make a straight border any more, he just dug a path through the ground snow while snow flakes danced and then whirled about him confusingly, he was lost in the heady smell of chocolate and snow. He put the music on his earphones from his mp3 and dug and dug.

It got cold and he danced to keep warm, thinking of cookies and dough and going out with Bumblebee and Mikaela to the look-out for snowball fights and building a Snow-transformer and then to Mickey D's for lunch or the fried chicken or pizza house with perhaps a jug of energy drink or smoothies, shakes or fragrant flavoured coffee! He whistled and his breath made a gray fog before his face, a defence against the dark, blizzarding sky, wet and stinging in the parts his Levi's and down jacket and boots didn't cover.

No longer could he smell the baking smell, and it seemed to have been windy and cold for a long time. He spread his hands and caught the snow, then dug furiously, trying to resist its confusing dizzy whirling, fighting it in a battle to stop it covering his path. Nothing else could he see or feel but wind and snow, dancing to the music.

Then suddenly he tripped over something else at leg-level. He hurt his leg, arm and head, and side, but he recognised what it was, a mailbox at last! Only now he had a more urgent need than eating. He needed the bathroom fast! Surely if he knocked his Mom would let him in and forgive him giving him a second breakfast, as he had dug most of a pathway out through the snow.

He could see lights, but it seemed he had to dig his way through to them. At last he gained the porch and rang the doorbell urgently, but no-one came. It was only then that he noticed there was something different about this door.

For one thing, it had a knocker, in the shape of a head of an eagle, in the middle of the door, with a little spy hole above it to see who was outside, and he was pretty sure his house did not have that. It was the same pattern door, varnished in medium tan wood, with a letter box in the middle - the paper boy used the mailbox as well as the mailman, when he didn't just shy it onto the lawn, but some more important letters, that needed signing perhaps, or whose contents would deteriorate from getting damp, or little cards that a mailman could dodge in quick with while running the risk of getting nipped on the ankle by Mojo, were brought to the door.

There were no rose bushes either side of the door; there was a porch light, but the number beneath it was not the same as his. Moreover, now he came to think of it, after noticing all this in a few seconds, the mailbox had not been in the same spatial position to the door and the drive as his own was, it was at the edge, but on the wrong side. It was the wrong way round. He had obviously crossed over the road, confused, in the snowstorm.

Furthermore, there was one thing he knew about the house across the road, it was empty. It was equipped, for it was the "show house" but it was the last new house for sale on the drive- that is, the road that he lived in. It had been useful, for whereas neighbours at the sides might notice something funny going on with him and Bumblebee and the other Autobots, (or occasionally Decepticons), no-one had been able to view them directly. He looked up and confirmed this, there was a large "For Sale" sign above him with the dealer's name on the wall.

There was one main snag to all this, he was just going to have to turn round and dig his way back home, through the snowstorm and gathering dark. This time, he found, there was ice underfoot as well.

Bumblebee, meanwhile, had not forgotten about his human friend. He commed Ratchet to talk to him, as he often had, or Optimus over the holiday period, just after Sam had left him. In the war situation as they were, Ratchet was more likely to be available than Optimus or Ironhide, and if he was not doing anything urgent he liked a break from routine repairing and inventorying supplies.

"Ratchet, Sam's digging me out today and I might suggest he collects Mikaela when he's finished, and we come to see you and Optimus at the base if you're free."

"Ah, Bumblebee, nice to hear your voice, did you do anything special for the holiday?"

"Yes, I took the family out to a Christmas football game!"

"Oh, I did not think Sam liked football?" said Ratchet sceptically.

"He doesn't, but his Dad does, and it meant nobody had to cook, and his parents could drink. They had hot dogs and apple pie and then Sam and Mikaela went to a disco, had tacos, soda and smoothies and went to a Pop concert with me afterwards, while his parents went to a restaurant and dance hall with Mikaela's Dad. I picked the parents up from a bar later and everyone was happy!"

"Weren't his parents tired out?"

"Sam's Mom said they'd always have time for quiet conventional holidays later when the kids had gone to college and got homes of their own. Sam's parents are cool, they want to experience the things that we youngsters enjoy while they still can, I love that!"

Bumblebee could hear Ratchet jokingly spluttering through his vents at the idea of them all being young when he considered their various ages.

"You must be well over a thousand years older than all of them Bumblebee, you're young to us but you'd seem incredibly old to Sam's parents, if they only knew your age, and they probably consider themselves old! Ah well, the humans have a saying, 'you're as young as you feel', and it's healthy to keep active!" he chuckled. "What did you do after that?"

"Then came the snow. Sam's Dad must've watched the rest of his holiday sport indoors on the TV, _four days _I've been stuck in here! Ron came out to take out some trash yesterday, and told me Sam was ill, but they might let him out tomorrow if he wraps up, and he gave me a few match and race results and some world news. I can get it all off the internet but I appreciated the contact-",

"Sam was ill did you say?" Ratchet interrupted. "Did he give any details?" The medic seized on this salient point from Bumblebee's conversational waffle.

"He said they were all throwing up and had feverish snivelly colds,

but they were surviving because it'd take more than a little snow to beat the Witwickys!"

"Well, more snow is forecast and the temperature is due to fall below zero degrees anyway today, so I might as well pop round anyway to check on you and Sam," said Ratchet, "I'll bring some of my energon. I think I can justify it to Prime, Ironhide and Will, they might even come

with me."

"Call on Mikaela, if you would, if there's a chance Sam might be in danger she'll want to know, and the cell phone signal is weak here tonight, but don't call everyone out for us, Ratchet, it'll be embarrassing for Optimus to get me out of my own garage. Sam started digging me out earlier, but it would help if you could bust me out to save Sam the trouble, he's been out a while, but it doesn't really matter, and there's no need to disturb Will and Ironhide- or Optimus Prime-"

"How long has Sam been out?" snapped Ratchet.

"Two breems, just over half an hour in human measurement of time".

"Hm, even that would be dangerous with blizzards forecast and-

a depressed immune system! I'm coming out, I'll contact you when I get to the area, Bumblebee. If Sam's life is at stake they will all want to come, with more of us we can be subtle, and don't worry Bumblebee, even if it was just you stuck somewhere four days, don't you think your friends would want to come rescue you?"

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Ironhide had stayed at Will's ranch for the holidays and when he got the call from Ratchet, Will was just filling his engine with anti-freeze and scraping the ice off his windscreen. He commed back that they were on their way while simultaneously saying to Will "Sam's at his house and may be in danger, let's go!"

Barricade intercepted the call with his tracking of Autobot broadcasts via Soundwave, and he contacted Starscream who thought he might enjoy a flight in a snowstorm if it meant he might be able to capture the Witwicky fleshling.

Bumblebee wracked his processors - what could he do to get out? Wait, if he remembered what Sam's Dad did to get in: an electronic signal wasn't it, and for the snow he had his secret weapon, his solar accelerator. It would make a bit of a mess, they would not be happy, but it wouldn't hurt _him _much; he could tell Sam's life signs were depreciating, and the most important thing to Bumblebee was his friend's life.

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Sam blew on his cold hands, they had gone through the burning stage to where he could not feel his fingers, though he vaguely knew he still clutched the spade. He could not feel his toes either, though his side ached and it was hard to breathe, and it was getting dark. Snow flew past him in blurred streaks like the stars in interstellar flight, only it hit him stinging and wet in a cold painful way, so he knew he was not in a warm spaceship. He wished he was in Bumblebee, that he had freed his Autobot friend first, he could have been speeding away to Mikaela now in a warm car, or sat in a warm roadside diner! If only he could project his thoughts like they used coms, he could call him. Suddenly he realized he could! He could call Bee on his cell phone and say he'd be with him in minutes.

The snow had melted slightly in the heat of noon and now there was treacherous slippery ice underfoot. As he got his phone out, he fell over the mailbox again .

"Bee I'll be with you in minutes, pal just the other side of the road," he got out before the cell and shovel slipped from his frozen hands. He was going to be sick again, it welled up from his throat, drowning him and he could not move, he would die here, buried in the snow and people would find his body and think he was a drunken teen over New Year.

He heard a car draw up and stop and a little dog barking, a loud explosion , the transforming sequence and several booming springy sounds.

'_Bee, 'Kaela, Mojo' _he thought as he was turned on his side, and the sick drained out into the snow from his slack lips.

A dark shape picked him up, a small yappy dog licked his nose, and he was carried fireman's-lift style upside down to the house

"I had an appointment, never mind what it is I'll pay the first down- payment, just let me get him in!" said a female voice.

"Bathroom" Sam muttered.

Sam was helped to the bathroom, did what he needed to, and soon was tucked up with a warm hot chocolate drink in a bed with someone warm beside him.

Yellow blue green whirling snow was all he could see against the black background of his eyelids. Then things went white and gray, purple black and red. He could see red lights with his eyes closed and when he opened them, fierce and softly whispered voices, a yellow streak, an explosion and then a long time of rushing confusion till he saw some brown paint work.

It seemed he was asleep and dreaming of the last time he had cleared up the yard, in the fall, sweeping and raking the leaves off the lawn, putting them in the trash can with two bits of 2x4 timber his Dad gave him, singing his own adaptation of a song he'd once heard his mother sing.

"Sweeping up the leaves, Sweeping up the leaves, we will come rejoicing, Sweeping up the Leaves!" it mixed in his mind with his own and Bee's and Mikaela's music and distinctly an old David Bowie song

"My life will be forever autumn

Cos you're not here-!….,

Red yellow green and brown leaves seemed to be falling on him . Then all went black, and he was left with an ominous worry . Who had he lost? There was no-one beside him now. Had he lost Mikaela? Was he somehow far from home and friendless?

It seemed so, for when he opened his eyes when the light next came,

all he could see besides the bed was a big brown robot with red eyes.

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Ratchet arrived at the Witwicky home and noticed that Mikaela had got there first, he could see her little moped by the gate.

::Ironhide, park up nearby and tell Will to come out with me, I think first approach needs the human touch!:: He commed . The Lime Medic knew Sam and Mikaela first hand but Will Lennox had approached his parents afterwards and knew them by sight. :: I don't want to have to laser and blast Bumblebee out if Mr Witwicky can do it with a key!:: ::Optimus, park up too as near as you can and send your holoform to me for now, you too 'Hide!:: As this was a Search and Rescue operation, rather than a battle he was in charge, and he did not want Sam's mother or anyone panicking, initially, the more natural it looked the better. Epps had come out from base with Optimus to be an extra pair of eyes and techno-support.

Will battled through the snow to the front door and thumped on it.

Ron and Judy came to the door; he touched his hat to them in salute

"Do you know where your son is, he's been reported missing!"

"Sam? He's up in his room isn't he?" Said Ron.

"He came down for breakfast and said he'd get on with his chores today, he'd just sweep the snow off the drive, he didn't come in for lunch but then he was taking Mikaela out to lunch so I didn't worry…¬"

"Sam's out there in that? Who reported him missing"? Said Judy,

"Bumblebee -he says he's been snowed up in the garage 4 days locked in and he spoke to Sam first thing this morning but not since-

"BUMBLEBEE?"

They looked out through the driving snow and saw the emergency vehicle parked in the Drive with its red toplights flashing -if Sam was out in a blizzard without his car, this was serious.

They ran to the garage, being joined by Epps who scanned the area with his thermal imaging device and a big torch.

"Wait! Let me open it!" said Ron, having visions of his garage door blasted open.

"I don't think you'll need to," said Will, examining the burnt grass-yes, there was burnt grass outside the garage, Epps was pointing at it , covered with recently fallen snow and the garage door was open.

"The cheeky- how did he do that?" exclaimed Ron.

"Probably by copying electronically the number code you typed in or the signal you sent" said Epps. " As for the grass, he melted the snow, it was sunny this morning wasn't it? Bumblebee has a solar accelerator."

"He can project it several metres beyond his alt. body," said Ratchet, coming up in his holoform as an orange hi-vis-coated, blue -pants and white shirted ambulance attendant.

They followed the circles of burnt grass and melted snow across the lawn, finding them more easily now they could guess what happened.

The last one had cracked the ice and the road on the other side.

"Bumblebee must've been in a mighty hurry to transform and run in broad daylight!" exclaimed Ironhide, whose holoform was a grizzled army staff sergeant.

"These are his footprints?" asked Judy, still not at ease with the autobot Transforming. Ron was torn between shock about his lawn and worry about Sam.

"They sure are!" said Ironhide.

"This one's a jump! Look at the impact!" said Optimus Prime whose usual holoform was a Trucker with lumberjack shirt rolled up past his elbows and a ten-gallon hat, but he had a black NEST Covert ops armband on to show he belonged with them. His well-muscled arms

were covered with Prime tattoos. Epps joined them, looming up through the snow.

"I don't blame Bumblebee one bit, he must've been going on his sensors and heat seeking night-vision in this weather!" said Will, batting away the snowflakes with his hands. The holoforms were O. K., but all the humans were getting soaked. "But where're he and Sam now?" They raised their eyes and saw the house over the road lit up and with music. A strange blue car was in the drive.

"Is that usual? 'Re they always having parties?" asked Epps.

"No, it's the show house, its empty" said Ron, picking up an Mp3. "It's Sam's!" He spotted a small pink vespa moped. "That's Mikaela's!"

Will raced up to the door of the other house and thumped on it via the eagle knocker, his army boots crunching through the snow.

The door was opened by a middle-aged woman carrying a poodle.

"Have you seen a young teen with dark hair?" asked Will

"Yes he was in a bad way I had to bring him in and warm him up, he was frozen!"

"So this place isn't empty?"

"No, I've just bought it."

A letterman in a gray suit started showing them some deeds to prove this.

Starscream landed lightly in the back garden of the house where he sensed a fleshling who matched Sam's statistics, grabbed him out of a back window and flew off with him back to his base. Barricade had informed him he could keep the youngling's yellow autobot guardian at bay as he had entrapped and captured his mate.

Bumblebee had had to hide after turning Sam over and saving his lfe, as someone had approached who he did not know. He heard a small scream though and knew it was Mikaela, and the police car ahead was Barricade carrying her. He transformed and gave chase.

::Give Mikaela back or I will fight you to the death you evil Decepticon!:: he challenged.

::I only have to transform and she will be crushed!" growled Barricade. You are my prisoner ! Follow us quietly to the base or she dies!::

"Us?" Bumblebee said in surprise.

He heard a roar from the thrusters of a supersonic jet.

"Starscream " screamed his processors and with despair he realised that Sam had been captured too. It was a trap! He was too late.

"Ah you are awake, fleshling," said Starscream appearing behind the brown Mech in front of Sam, "This Dr Syn: I am Starscream as you know. As you were injured I first of all had you checked over when I brought you in. However you seem healthy enough to now start your life imprisonment for killing Megatron and destroying the All Spark!"

Sky warp warped him to a smelly cell where he was shackled to the ground but left away from Mikaela and Bumblebee, with no food, no water, and no hope.


	2. Chapter 2

Free the drive 2

Meanwhile Sam's parents were not idle. Sam had taught Ron how to use his laptop scanner and printer so they scanned in a recent photo of him and printed off some "Missing" posters, then wrapped up in down coats and put them up on local trees, mailboxes and telegraph poles. While doing this, they bumped into Miles, Sam's friend, coming home from his evening holiday job of stacking shelves, collecting carts and standing at a till at Wal-mart.

"What's going down? Sam's lost?" he said, looking at he posters they were carrying "Sam's out in this snowstorm?"

"Yes, " said Ron, "he went out to clear the path of snow this morning and hasn't returned."

"I wish he'd called me," said, Miles, "we often do it together, shovel snow, and there wasn't much action at work."

"Doesn't seem much point now," he added, looking at the falling snow.

"Wow man that's mental!" Miles exclaimed as thunder rolled and lightning flashed across the sky making rainbow rings round the snowflakes.

"You better come in and have some coffee," said Judy.

So he did, and they found him a turkey burger and a bit of pumpkin pie too, and one of Judy's homemade cookies, which they hadn't had the heart to eat earlier after finding out about Sam. They explained the situation and when they looked up the snow had stopped. They looked out at the still bare white dusky landscape and sighed as they closed the drapes.

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Miles, clutching his coffee.

"You can join the army looking for him if you like," said Ron seeing lights pass the window and hearing the doorbell ring.

Judy got to the door first. It was Will and Epps, and a strange woman carrying a little poodle who barked, jumped on the floor and made friends with Mojo. "Quiet, Ishy!" His owner commanded "Play nicely now!"

"This is Mary Perry," said Epps "she was the last person to see Sam."

"Hi there I'm your new neighbour across the road, I found your boy outside, warmed him up, put him to bed but I could not call 911 immediately as this guy wanted a decision on buying the house. I'm real glad these guys showed up, I'm real sorry I didn't know he'd disappear out the bedroom window."

"Decepticons" explained Epps shortly "The same from Mission City. Enemies of the State. As far as we can tell, Starscream took Sam from the bedroom and Barricade took Mikaela."

"You probably did the best you could," Judy consoled Mary and got her a coffee too.

"Can we use your phone?" said Will "It's a matter of national security now, we've lost Bumblebee and we're looking for Mikaela too."

"Can I help?" asked Miles, "I can check Mikaela's home and I know Sam and Bumblebee." He got out his cell phone hopefully.

"You can go out with us" said Will, "but if it comes to a fight leave the big guys to deal with the big ones. You'll know what I mean if it happens. We found Mikaela's moped and Bumblebee's tire tracks. Barricade has been positively identified." He rang N.E.S.T. HQ.

"And I recognised Starscream's signal and foot- shape." said Epps.

Miles rang Mikaela's home, but sadly she had not returned.

Sam found his hands were tied behind his back with plastic ties and his legs were shackled with chains, one to a staple in the floor, one to a metal ball like a cannon ball. Slime ran down the walls, with water in one corner, and it was cold, damp and stank. He tried scooting over on his ass to drink the water, but it didn't taste very good, and the chains and bonds hurt him. Just as he was getting not to care and nodding off to sleep in spite of everything he heard a cheery whistle, and in came the brown robot with red eyes, with 2 buckets, one full of water, and a gray army blanket.

"Here we are!" he said in a jolly voice, "Standard imprisonment supplies until we decide if you should be tortured first!" He scanned Sam with a green light, "but I am hoping to have you transferred to the med-bay to make sure you're alive for it. I am Dr Syn, your medic."

"Oh like Ratchet don't I get a lawyer?" "You can probably have Swindle or Dead End but I wouldn't advise it."

Sam spluttered "Why would I be tortured? I don't know anything!"

The Medic just shrugged, left the blanket and buckets. Sam wrapped himself in the blanket, drank some water and utilised the other bucket since he did not want to wet his pants, or worse.

Barricade came in and subjected him to strong light, via his front interrogation extending light-claw.

"What is the pass-word for the Autobot base?" he asked.

"I-I don't know! I didn't know there was one!" Sam replied.

"What is the frequency of the force field?"

"I dunno! I'm not a tech-head! You'd have to ask Ironhide or Ratchet for that, Mikaela even, no, not Mikaela, she wouldn't know-"

"Starscream says I can have you in the med bay as long as you're confined", said the Medic, returning and cutting the chains off Sam's legs with a micro-welder. He put an inflatable splint on one, wrapped Sam up in the blanket and carried him into a lighter, warmer area with a human bed in it, and several repair pallets, one with a large wired-up Cybertronian on it.

Barricade shone lights on him, flexed his claws and played recordings of Bumblebee and Mikaela screaming. Sam was horrified to realise they had been captured as well. Barricade offered him pizza and a hot dog, moving them away when Sam reached for them, while asking questions Sam did not know the answers to, or was not in a position to have been informed about.

Outside the three Autobots and three humans had arrived. Miles was amazed to meet some real alien super robots and promised to keep their existence secret.

"Lacking Bumblebee and Jazz we'll have to rely on you and the humans to sneak in," said Optimus Prime to Ironhide. "I will try and cause a distraction. Ratchet, you be back-up!"

He fired his cannon arm over the base.

"Starscream! Come out and fight me like a Cybertronian warrior! We know you have the boy!" he proclaimed in his deep voice.

"It's only an old warehouse and some dilapidated hangars, we could take them by surprise by charging in." suggested Ironhide.

"No," said Will, forcing a small side door, "There's a repair vent in here, we can go in. You first Miles, you're skinny enough, we're right behind you!"

"Optimus Prime! Is that You? Starscream never refuses a challenge!"

came a voice from one of the hangars, and Starscream swooped down just above the Prime's drawn sword, on his other arm. He managed to dodge the cannon arm and claw Optimus's knee servo but the sword caught him on the other arm and scored his wing. He squealed and, firmly believing in self-preservation, jumped back to the H.Q. roof and called in Swindle and Payload to fight Ratchet and Ironhide. "Aid me, my Decepticons!" The struggle was fierce but brief as they could all dodge back into their building, but by then the humans were safely inside.

Shuddering, Will checked that Ironhide was relatively O. K. while Epps checked with Ratchet and Optimus, then they went into radio silence. Miles clutched the only tools he had on him, his pricing gun and Klever Kutter, a plastic device with a mainly blunt blade he used to cut the parcelled-up goods he put on the shelves at Wal-mart.

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"You've got a cracked rib, fractured knee and a superficial head injury," said Dr Syn to the frightened and exhausted Sam. "Mikaela is relatively unscathed, just cut, bruised and frightened. There's a human bathroom here and I can make you food when you're a bit better." He gave Barricade a hard stare. "No more torturing for the next ten hours, and the two humans and the Autobot, who is injured too, are staying here, at least overnight, with no other visitors except Starscream if he wishes." Barricade grumbled in Cybertronian, but brought them in from the cells. "I also am carrying out a difficult medical procedure on Skywarp, so I don't want to be disturbed!"

Once the resentful grounder had left, the medic looked at Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee and said "Well I can't really deny the Decepticon Leader entry without good reason, can I?"

When he got no reply from Sam, he checked him again, and was alarmed to find the human had fainted.

Mikaela and Bumblebee ran over and tried to wake Sam up.

"Sam!" cried Mikaela, slapping him lightly, "wake up! You're safe now! "It's just Bumblebee and me here!" Bumblebee confirmed this with a concerned warble.

"It's no good! He is out of energy! He needs complete rest and isolation!" said Dr Syn putting Sam into a human bed which had been left for night-watchmen of the warehouse. "And it'll be no good for him if you're dripping energon on him, Autobot, I'd better repair you, you've been tortured too!"

"Let me help, I've done it before!" said Mikaela, "It's okay, Bee, I know your systems compared to a human drone form. I can repair you almost painlessly."

"M'ok, I trust you Mikaela, and the Doc," said Bumblebee, with his limited low non-sound-byte language.

"O.K. said Dr Syn , but don't touch any energon!" as he repaired the Autobot and Mikaela helped him.

Miles, Will and Epps crept through the repair ducts until they could hear recognisable human voices as well as those of robots.

"I know it sounds like we're sending in a civilian to do our dirty work, but you're the best person to go contact Sam and Mikaela, you're their friend," said Will to Miles. "You go out and alert them, any of the hostiles make bad moves on you, we can take them out from here, we got the weapons." Both he and Epps had been equipped with magnesium rocket-launchers, the best weapon for the job, provided they could get them through the spaces in the transforming body armour.

Miles crept out of the repair vent and found himself alone with Sam, Mikaela and a big bronze mech who appeared to be occupied repairing another robot, which after a second he realized was Bumblebee. He cut Sam's plastic wrist bonds with the Klever Kutter. Then he looked up and round for Mikaela.

"Another death'll be bad for my Rep," said Dr Syn. "Sensors'll fail for 10 minutes so you, Bumblebee, can get away with your charge. Send the others via the vent, and you take him and go through the side door!"

Bumblebee understood this, he picked up Sam in the blanket, pointed Mikaela and Miles to the vent and headed for the nearest source of free air.

It all went black as Miles and Mikaela went back up the repair vent with Will and Epps and Bumblebee took Sam out of the side door.

Dropkick, who was supposed to be on guard was in the security room watching 9 security camera screens, which failed for a blip, and missed them because he was also checking out the world wide web, the football and hopping through over a thousand radio and T. V. channels.

"It's cold enough to freeze fuel out there, you wouldn't get me out in it for 2 vorns supply of energon cubes, it's not worth the ice and snow damage and wind risks!" he said. Dead End agreed.

"Whatever," Dead End added, "we're all headed for the scrap-yard anyway," he muttered fatalistically.

"The you-know-where is out there, numb-nuts!" fumed Dropkick, "and I hope I'm not headed there any time soon, at the moment I'd prefer the human hell to our Pit, it sounds warmer!"

Thundercracker was keeping watch overhead, flying high below the frost-lit stars, and excused the flight because all he saw was 2 under -age and one injured young human, one a femme, fleeing with 2 other humans, no weapons fired, no fliers, and heading away from the base. He flew high, shook the ice crystals off his wings and hoped he would be able to snuggle up with his wing brothers soon, as Wreckage , whose alt. was a tank, was taking over, and no one else would be out to try and enter in the early hours of the morning.

Starscream, who was sulking in his warm quarters with some high-grade energon, was happy to welcome Thundercracker back, and Skywarp after his repair procedure, and they cuddled and recharged till daylight.

"I'm sorry they must've got away when the sensors failed.," said Dr Syn to Barricade.

" Slaggit! Well good luck to them in this weather," said Barricade," Megatron's killer has escaped this time, but at least he has felt some of our pain! I don't agree with Starscream on many things, but I think I agree that if we're taking over this frozen mud-ball, we can give them a few tips on coping with climate change!"

He shook himself and scattered slush, mud and grit all over the med-bay. Dr Syn growled, sighed through his vents and set Dead End to clearing it up. At least Dead End would only moan that they were all headed for the scrap-heap anyway, not say "What favour are you going to do for me in return?" or other such backchat.

Miles, Will, Epps and Mikaela crawled through the vents and Bumblebee ran carrying Sam.

Once free of the Decepticon defences he joined Ironhide, Ratchet and Optimus, putting his precious burden carefully down. They transformed. Sam was taken into Ratchet's alt. form and Epps and Mikaela went with him, Will went with Ironhide, Optimus went on his own, and Miles went with Bumblebee. As Sam was unconscious, Miles and Mikaela collected Sam's parents from their home and they all went to the Autobot base.

Sam woke up next day to sunshine and an eggnog drink delivered by Ratchet.

"Hi where am I and what's this stuff?"

"Eggnog. I hear you drink it at this season." said Ratchet sartorially.

"Couldn't I start off with soda, milk or even water?

"Certainly," said the medic. "And you are in my Med-bay, of course, in the Autobot base. And you are not leaving until you are better. No charge. Bumblebee and Mikaela are recovering here as well." He brought Sam the other drinks too. Bumblebee warbled "Hey there."

"Thanks for rescuing me, guys, I guess I got carried away in the confusion of a snowstorm. It's good to hear your cheery voice again Ratchet," Sam added sarcastically. "Can I call Mom and Dad?"

"I'll call them they're next door in the Relative's Rest Room" said Ratchet.

Later in the year, the snow was melting, and Sam was out with Bumblebee at the Look-out but his leg still hurt him. He sank down by Bumblebee, leaning his back against Bumblebee's shiny yellow arm.

"Mikaela says she didn't turn me over, when I was sick in the snow, she was totally fooled by Barricade. And the neighbour said she didn't either. I'm just trying to figure out who did."

"I did Sam," said Bumblebee.

"Thanks pal," Sam buried his face in Bumblebee's shoulder tire. "You saved my life."


End file.
